Children's Home run by Active Ark Limited in Cumberland

Inspection report for children’s home: 2506856 1 Registered provider: Active Ark Limited

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This home is owned and managed by a private provider. The home provides care for up to 3 children who may experience social and emotional difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The manager registered with Ofsted in January 2019.

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Information about this children’s home

At the time of this inspection, 2 children were living in the home and they both spoke with the inspector. Two children had moved in since the last inspection and one child moved out.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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inadequate

How well children and young people are helped and protected inadequate

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inadequate

The effectiveness of leaders and managers inadequate

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inadequate

There are serious and widespread failures that mean children and young people are not protected or their welfare is not promoted or safeguarded and the care and experiences of children and young people are poor and they are not making progress.

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inadequate

Date of last inspection: 22 October 2025

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inadequate

Overall judgement at last inspection: requires improvement to be good

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inadequate

Enforcement action since last inspection: none Inspection report for children’s home: 2506856 2

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

22/10/2025 Full Requires improvement to be good 15/07/2025 Full Inadequate 06/11/2024 Full Good 25/09/2023 Full Good Inspection report for children’s home: 2506856 3

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Summary of findings

Children do not receive care that is consistent with their plans and staff do not always respond appropriately to children’s views. While children say that they have positive relationships with staff and enjoy living in the home, their overall progress and safety is undermined by ineffective leadership and oversight of their care. Leaders do not consistently monitor practice or evaluate the impact of care provided to children. As a result, weaknesses in staff responses to children have not been identified or addressed promptly. Furthermore, leaders have not always worked in line with their own risk management plans.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children’s wishes and feelings are not always taken into account by leaders and managers. At times, care planning decisions have been made that are not in line with children’s wishes. Children are not routinely provided with reasons for this, especially for one child who has now moved on from the home. Furthermore, staff did not provide appropriate support for the child or respond in a nurturing way to their feelings about the decision. This means that some children do not always feel valued and listened to.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

When children move into the home, this is done quickly and without effective planning. Children are not consulted and the needs of children already living in the home are not fully considered as part of the planning and transition process. The manager does not consider staff’s views, skills and experience, meaning there is not a clear assessment made as to whether staff are able to meet the needs of children.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children do not have access to all areas of their home. Some areas are locked and used as storage. This unnecessarily limits children’s choice and access, which has contributed to children’s heightened emotions and feeling restricted in their own home. Furthermore, while children personalise their bedrooms, communal areas of the home lack personalisation. This means that these areas are not as welcoming and reflective of children’s wishes as they could be.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children now living in the home say they are happy and have positive relationships with staff. Professionals say that staff communicate well with them and that they are kept informed about all aspects of children’s care. Staff develop relationships with children that help them feel secure and supported. Furthermore, staff promote children’s relationships with family members when they live far away. This helps children maintain meaningful relationships with those who are important to them.

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Overall experiences and progress of children and young people: inadequate

Children enjoy a wide range of activities, ranging from weekly clubs such as football through to one-off activities. Some of these activities include camping trips and trips to Inspection report for children’s home: 2506856 4 theme parks and music festivals. These experiences broaden children’s interests, skills and create positive memories.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: inadequate

Staff are inconsistent in how they respond to children’s behaviours. When children are upset, the response they receive is not consistent with their plans, or the home’s ethos and model of care. As a result, children become frustrated and display behaviours that are unsafe. On one occasion, staff contacted the police to intervene and manage a child’s behaviour when their responses had led to the child becoming highly distressed. This does not provide children with the predictability they need to feel safe and leaves them at risk of criminalisation.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: inadequate

Children are not supported to understand their emotions. When children experience difficult feelings and situations, they are not helped to reflect and understand how they could manage things differently. At times, staff have dismissed or minimised children’s feelings and, on one occasion, a child was challenged about their relationship with family members in a way that was not considerate of their emotional wellbeing. This shows a lack of insight into children’s needs and the emotional impact that staff responses can have on them.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: inadequate

A child did not receive appropriate support when they were subject to a police investigation. Managers and senior leaders did not follow their own risk management arrangements that were in place to manage a conflict of interest between a senior leader and the child. This included staff not being aware of this risk management guidance and the child not being supported by a designated staff member to support their emotional wellbeing and safety. Furthermore, the senior leader continued to have oversight of the child’s care, against the stipulations of the plan in place. This included them making a decision to end the child’s placement.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: inadequate

Managers and staff do not adhere to health and safety guidelines. Fire doors are regularly propped open and are not used for their intended purpose. This practice places children and staff at an increased risk in the event of an emergency.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: inadequate

Staff respond appropriately when children are at an immediate risk of harm. Staff are proactive in discouraging children from travelling to unauthorised places and alert the children’s professional networks and family members appropriately. When children are involved in substance misuse, staff follow guidance from health professionals and stay with children until they are safe to be alone. Staff have meaningful discussions with children about the risks, and this has helped to reduce the frequency of these incidents.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager is regularly absent from the home, which reduces his understanding of how children are being cared for. This also affects his ability to build positive relationships with children and external professionals. Poor oversight of children’s care Inspection report for children’s home: 2506856 5 significantly reduces the manager’s ability to identify areas of development or actions to improve the practice of staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff do not receive effective support and supervision of their practice. Team meetings and annual appraisals of staff performance do not consistently take place. Supervision sessions take place but do not allow staff to reflect on their role, and they lack sufficient focus on children. As a result, staff do not routinely receive the guidance and challenge they need to improve or develop their practice.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Leaders and managers do not review incidents and records effectively to understand children’s experiences. This means they have failed to identify shortfalls in staff practice that have developed over time. These include children being denied access to their own records, areas of the home being unnecessarily restricted and the use of child-blaming language.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

Staff lack the skills and experience needed to care for children effectively. The home’s designated mandatory training and training relevant to children’s specific needs are not regularly completed. This limits staff skills in caring for children appropriately and meeting their needs in line with their plans.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: inadequate

The manager escalates his concerns to children’s local authorities when children’s needs are not being met by external services and children are at continued risk. This has helped children receive the support they need from external services. Inspection report for children’s home: 2506856 6

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, The Children’s Homes (England) Regulations, 2015 and the ‘Guide to The Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’. The registered person must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

*The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that—

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Requirement Due date

helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child;

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Requirement Due date

understand the impact that the quality of care provided in the home is having on the progress and experiences of each child and use this understanding to inform the development of the quality of care provided in the home;

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Requirement Due date

use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) (2)(a)(c)(f)(h)) 23 August 2026

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Requirement Due date

The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how to keep safe; 23 August 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2506856 7 have the skills to identify and act upon signs that a child is at risk of harm;

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Requirement Due date

take effective action whenever there is a serious concern about a child’s welfare; and

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Requirement Due date

that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed, furnished and maintained so as to protect each child from avoidable hazards to the child’s health. (Regulation 12 (1) (2)(a)(ii)(iii)(vi)(d))

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Requirement Due date

The care planning standard is that children—

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Requirement Due date

receive effectively planned care in or through the children’s home; and

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Requirement Due date

have a positive experience of arriving at or moving on from the home.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure—

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Requirement Due date

ensure the effective induction of each child into the home;

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Requirement Due date

manage and review the placement of each child in the home;

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Requirement Due date

that each child’s relevant plans are followed;

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Requirement Due date

that the child’s placing authority is contacted, and a review of that child’s relevant plans is requested, if—

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Requirement Due date

the child requests a review of the child’s relevant plans; and

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Requirement Due date

that staff help each child to access and contribute to the records kept by the registered person in relation to the child. (Regulation 14 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(i)(ii)(c)(e)(iii)(f)) 23 August 2026

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Requirement Due date

The registered person must ensure that all employees—

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Requirement Due date

undertake appropriate continuing professional development;

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Requirement Due date

receive practice-related supervision by a person with appropriate experience; and 23 August 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2506856 8 have their performance and fitness to perform their roles appraised at least once every year. (Regulation 33 (4)(a)(b)(c))

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Requirement Due date

The quality and purpose of care standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

understand the children’s home’s overall aims and the outcomes it seeks to achieve for children;

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Requirement Due date

use this understanding to deliver care that meets children’s needs and supports them to fulfil their potential.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to—

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Requirement Due date

understand and apply the home’s statement of purpose;

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Requirement Due date

protect and promote each child’s welfare;

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Requirement Due date

treat each child with dignity and respect;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand and manage the impact of any experience of abuse or neglect;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the premises used for the purposes of the home are designed and furnished so as to—

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Requirement Due date

enable each child to participate in the daily life of the home. (Regulation 6 (1)(a)(b) (2)(b)(i)(ii)(iii)(v)(c)(ii)) 23 August 2026

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Requirement Due date

The children’s views, wishes and feelings standard is that children receive care from staff who—

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Requirement Due date

develop positive relationships with them;

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Requirement Due date

take their views, wishes and feelings into account in relation to matters affecting the children’s care and welfare and their lives.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— 23 August 2026 Inspection report for children’s home: 2506856 9 ensure that staff—

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Requirement Due date

ascertain and consider each child’s views, wishes and feelings, and balance these against what they judge to be in the child’s best interests when making decisions about the child’s care and welfare;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand how the child’s views, wishes and feelings have been taken into account and give the child reasons for decisions in relation to the child;

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Requirement Due date

ensure that the views of each relevant person are taken into account, so far as reasonably practicable, before making a decision about the care or welfare of a child. (Regulation 7 (1)(a)(b)(c) (2)(a)(i)(iii)(e))

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Requirement Due date

children can access all appropriate areas of the children’s home’s premises; and

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Requirement Due date

any limitation placed on a child’s privacy or access to any area of the home’s premises—

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Requirement Due date

is kept under review and, if necessary, revised. (Regulation 21 (1)(b)(c)(ii)(iii)) 23 August 2026

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Requirement Due date

The registered person may only manage a children’s home if—

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Requirement Due date

having regard to the size of the home, its statement of purpose, and the number and needs (including any needs arising from any disability) of the children—

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Requirement Due date

the person has the appropriate experience, qualification and skills to manage the home effectively and lead the care of children. (Regulation 28 (1)(b)(i)) 23 August 2026

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Requirement Due date

* This requirement is subject to a compliance notice.

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Recommendation

Inspection report for children’s home: 2506856 10  The registered person should ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third-party information. Information about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child. (‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4)

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people, using the social care common inspection framework. This inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service, how it meets the core functions of the service as set out in legislation, and to consider how well it complies with The Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the Children’s Homes Regulations, including the quality standards’. Inspection report for children’s home: 2506856 11

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Active Ark, Unit E, Baron Way, Kingmoor Business Park, Carlisle CA6 4SJ

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Inspector

Amey Henry, Social Care Inspector Inspection report for children’s home: 2506856 12 achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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